Pretty Things in August

As I reviewed the 843 photos from Sunday, the realization came that any number of posts could surface from such a volume. I became overwhelmed with ideas; the possibilities are abundant. I have enough photos to write something about hardy fuchsias, hydrangeas, bee-attracting plants and the veggie garden. I think I have ideas lined up for the next few weeks. But, for now, being overwhelmed, I did what I naturally do, i.e., go for the pretty pictures like a magpie to shiny objects. Below is simply a collection of images from the first week of August in the garden, ones I like for one reason or another. I hope you enjoy:

At the eastern edge of the labyrinth garden, Rudbeckia hirta are beginning to bloom, giving the definite sensation of summertime.

Berberis jamesiana, in its green grape phase. These will turn to a coral pinkish color come fall, followed by lovely orange fall color for the leaves before they drop.

Asters and Agastache foeniculum backed by Stipa gigantea flowers.

In one of my favorite beds, Hylotelephium 'Stardust' is forming flower clusters that will bloom white in a few weeks. Behind are several shrubs that echo a silver, purple and green theme.

In the middle of the orchard, standing amongst the queen Anne's lace, which, of course, was already there. We allowed the meadow to grow between the fruit trees, only mowing paths. I rather like it.

Chandelier flowers of Itea ilicifolia, now in its third year (I believe), are stunning. I love this evergreen shrub for its drama.

This part of the garden is finally looking as I imagined it with hot pinks and oranges, no more yellows. That's an orange California poppy in the middle that reads yellow, but it is indeed orange. Also now that the rosemary is cut back it allows light to the plants behind.

From the southeastern corner looking up towards the house and the edge of the labyrinth garden.

Soft yellow Coreopsis 'Moonbeam' in its new home, away from the now orange and hot pink section seen earlier to spots between Festuca rubra 'Patrick's Point' and Muhlenbergia rigens which is beginning to form spiky inflorescences.

A closer shot of the hot pink and oranges in this part of the garden.

Wider shot showing the convergence of several different garden beds in the gravel garden.

A section of the dry labyrinth garden with Teucrium chamaedrys, Cotinus 'Pink Champagne' and an unknown Hylotelephium or sedum cultivar. These are all drought-tolerant and the Teucrium chamaedrys or germander is evergreen, a great solution plant for a small evergreen shrub for sun that requires very little water once established. It can be pruned to shape it. The bees LOVE it when it's in bloom, by the way.

Macleaya cordata, plume poppy leaves.

A wider shot of the Teucrium edge. These will be pruned back after the blooms are finished.

Same bed from the other direction.

In the gravel garden, many shrubs are crowding one another. I have two acres and I still have the tendency to cramscape. Old habits are hard to break.

Golden yellow berries that will turn red-orange on Viburnum opulus 'Aureum.' Birds love these berries, especially cedar waxwings.

Arctostaphylos silvicola ‘Ghostly’ foliage.

A wide shot of one path through the labyrinth garden flanked by two Acanthus mollis.

Looking west past the gravel garden.

The orchard is on the right, the veggie garden on the left and the labyrinth garden straight ahead. The path between these two areas I am standing on is simply a mowed path.

Plump hips of Rosa pomifera. I am looking into harvesting some of these to make tea - if anyone has tips, do speak up.

Not everything looks summery around here. We've been battling the moles and voles with a vengeance this year - because of issues like this. Moles are continually making gigantic mounds under this row of cistus - no matter what we do, they come back. While moles are carnivores and don't eat plants, they do make tunnels that leave roots dangling in caves and this happens. Half the plant is dying while the other half is fine. The voles do eat plants and they are an issue in the shade garden where many favorite plants are completely gone because of them. The voles also use moles' tunnels, a win-win for the rodents. Lose-lose for us. 

On to small projects. We have been collecting rocks for a while now and recycled concrete so FM made this fabulous stairway for us. It used to be wood and rebar, now it's solid stone and concrete. Thank you, FM!

From the other angle. I love it! Rustic Chickadee Gardens style, just how we like it.

FM also made us a barn-owl box to hopefully attract some form of critter control. This is posted on the edge of the orchard where there is quite a community of voles.

Finally, the first of the shallots were harvested. I leave this here to remind myself that it's the middle of food-preservation season and that we'll be busy over the next couple of weeks pickling green beans and beets, harvesting and curing onions and shallots, drying herbs and making sauerkraut. Life is good, busy but good. Now if I could figure out a way to make a living doing all of this, what I love . . . any ideas?

Oh, and in case you were wondering, not all of those 800+ photos were saved. No, I culled them down to a couple of hundred, something I do every week. I do the same thing at Joy Creek Nursery for our Facebook page there - 800 is not unheard of in a couple of hours to create several posts for the week, something I do year-round for the nursery. I guess I get carried away with photos but as many of you know, it takes a lot of shots to get a decent one.

Well, that's a wrap for this week at Chickadee Gardens. As always, thank you so much for reading and commenting, we love hearing from the plant-loving community! Happy gardening one and all!